In the current PRSA newsletter, former Beehive colleague Katharine Mudra published a great article about the evolution of the newsroom (download article/PDF). Her point that PR professionals must be nimble and creative to meet newsroom needs is well taken – the news community is ever faster, more resourceful and publishing in more channels every day.

But as every great PR person knows, there is a fine line between meeting the needs of the media and meeting the needs of your clients. So, navigating the evolving newsroom is only part of the game. Here are three perceptions we can change to help clients minimize fear of the new news climate and demonstrate the value of the changing coverage mix:

Perception: If we aren’t talking about it, nobody will cover it.
Reality: The days of “command and control” communication are long gone. A news tip is only a click away, so the chances are pretty good that SOMEBODY’s talking, even if you aren’t.

However, this is not always a bad thing. By monitoring both traditional and digital media (using either paid tools like Cision, Radian 6 and Nielsen’s Buzz Logic or free tools like Twilert, Google News and Technorati), you can keep an eye on what’s being said about your business or brand, as well as your competitors and any trends or issues that might be of interest. In this case, listening to the conversation can inform your communication strategies – when, where and how to participate to tell your best story and reach your most important audiences.

Perception: If we aren’t in the newspaper or on mainstream TV nobody gets our news. (Or, if we aren’t on Twitter we’ll never reach anybody.)
Reality: We are seeing a shift in the media mix, due to the economy, new tools and the changing needs of consumers. The honest truth is that there is great value in both traditional and digital media coverage. Abandoning one for the other is rarely the right choice. Looking at your audience, your goals and how you will measure success should inform your communication strategy and give you a foundation to demonstrate how PR, marketing, sponsorships and advertising are working together to meet business goals.

Perception: You can’t measure PR, especially not social media.
Reality: Yes, you can and should be measuring PR and social media. If you are clear at the outset about what you want to achieve you should be able to measure both the effort (how many placements, where, were key messages delivered, was branding included, what was the ad value, etc.) and the result (was there a sales spike, were there more visits to the Web site, what percentage of promotions were redeemed). The key is to set goals and establish measurement criteria early and integrate agency and corporate resources to arrive at the big picture.

The bottom line is that even though the newsroom and the media mix are changing, there is still a powerful opportunity to tell your story, when and where it matters most.

Nicki Gibbs
Group Director

Social Networks Moving Up the Ladder

A March 2009 study from Nielsen on social networks boasted some sweeping, but perhaps not surprising, numbers. Let’s take a look:

• Social networks/blogs now fourth most popular online category – ahead of personal e-mail
• Social networks account for one in every 11 minutes online
• Orkut in Brazil has the largest domestic online reach (70%) of any social network anywhere in the world
• Facebook has the highest average time per visitor amongst the 75 most popular brands online worldwide

This Nielsen study could provide a week’s worth of Waxings, but I’m going to focus on one interesting stat:

• Social network and blogging sites are now the fourth most popular activity on the Internet – ahead of personal e-mail

(In case you’re wondering what’s ahead of social networking and e-mail? Search. General interest portals and communities. Software manufacturers.)

These figures and changes continue to have a profound impact on publishers and marketers alike. AdWeek sums up the research under the appropriate heading: “As online paradigm shifts, advertisers must find a way to add value, rather than follow the ‘push’ model.” Copy that.

What’s interesting, however, is that here we have information showing social nets as more popular than e-mail, yet many of the social networks, microblogs and other services rely on it (e.g., you need an e-mail address to sign up for Facebook; Twitter sends you e-mail notification if you have a new follower, etc.). So while more time may be spent in other online categories, many would argue that e-mail is still the foundation for all electronic communication. And perhaps that’s why some social networks are toying with having their own branded e-mail.

Inbox Insanity

I found this study of particular interest in light of a recent e-mail marketing presentation in Minneapolis (thank you, MIMA). Jeff Rohrs, VP of marketing for Exact Target, described what has become a time of inbox insanity. Think about the many “inboxes” you have – home e-mail, work e-mail, cell voicemail, work voicemail, text message, IM, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, RSS reader and [insert your network here]. Oh, and don’t forget about your postal mail box.

Many of these inboxes will likely continue to grow as online activity continues to rise (especially across demographics) – and we’ll continue to need to check those feeds and inboxes and respond to the content that is in them (the relevant content that is).

The Social Inbox

Is it sustainable? According to Jeff, no. Time is too much of a commodity. And so we’re starting to see consolidation more and more – this time in the form of a social inbox.

While many desktop applications like AlertThingy and plug-ins like Xobni have helped provide much-appreciated aggregation and consolidation for social networking activity, none have proven to be the true “catch-all” for online social activity. So e-mail providers are hoping to bring that to users via “the social inbox.” A place to house and provide one-click access to your e-mail, search, RSS, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, SMS, Wordpress and more. A more useful place, with more time-efficient ways of interacting with contacts online.

Yahoo has a beta site for its social inbox. From Ars Technica…

• the new Yahoo Mail is positioned as a dashboard for one’s increasingly diverse digital life
• these changes turn Yahoo Mail into a dashboard for watching contact activity at social sites

Microsoft is making strides with Windows Live and Gmail is working on it too. Bebo launched its’ social inbox in late 2008, integrating content and helping to efficiently keep track of friends’ activities/posts. Oh, and there’s the iPhone.

The iPhone: social media and network consolidation – photo from iLounge

What This Means for the Communications/Marketing Industry

So let’s get to the heart of this – what does this all mean for communication, PR and marketing pros using e-mail marketing to reach and connect with customers? Here are some key takeaways from what Jeff shared at the e-mail marketing event:

• The social inbox gives consumers more control and marketers less control.
• So, relevancy will be key; otherwise, you’re a spammer.
• E-mail marketing still plays a role. There’s the potential for terrific ROI, measurement and reach. There’s also research – companies can take the opportunity to learn from their customers.
• In a down economy, more retailers and brands will resort to e-mail marketing because it’s inexpensive and can hit a large population/demographic.
• But, to see real results and cut through the clutter, marketers must focus on: 1) customer personalization and permission AND 2) really relevant and resourceful content.
• Yes, e-mail marketing should be driven by the demands of consumer segments. Subscribers rule.
• “Batch and blast” is a thing of the past.
• Communication, content, frequency and channel delivery should be determined by customer preference and permission – based on strong data.
• Again, precision marketing and customization is key – use data and behavioral info to craft messages of relevance to specific customers.
• Customers need to be able to opt-in to e-mail relationships – so create touchpoints and opportunities allowing them to do so.

This shift is yet another reminder that to be effective today, authenticity, adding value, two-way communication and relationship building must drive marketing and PR efforts at every step.

Katharine Mudra

Account Supervisor

The Minnesota PRSA Annual conference last week went very well. To summarize:

• Peter Shankman – the founder of Help A Reporter Out – keynoted, sharing great examples of how companies and brands should be involved in social media and Twitter. (Speaking of which, here are some good examples.) Check out an impromptu interview with Peter from the event (video courtesy of Arik Hanson). For companies/brands not sure where to start with Twitter, listening is a great place to start. See what customers are saying and learn from them. Peter’s key takeaways for today’s businesses: transparency, relevancy and brevity.

• Paula Prahl from Best Buy also presented in the morning, emphasizing the importance of companies “knowing thyself,” staying grounded, (really) understanding your audiences and being real and patient. I enjoyed the section on being accountable to employees and earning your reputation.

• Beehive CEO Lisa Hannum was part of the agency panel and discussed how to help organizations understand and explore the changing media world. Panel consensus: companies need to be engaged because the marketplace expects involvement in new media. However, it can’t happen just because the tools/technologies are available – social media and communication strategies must tie to business objectives and resources. Also, patience is required to launch and sustain the effort, and ROE (return on engagement) considerations must be in place.

• On the media panel, representatives from MinnPost, WCCO-TV and Star Tribune talked about the changing traditional media landscape (including the shrinking newsrooms we’re unfortunately hearing about locally) and the growing importance for communicators to share information with reporters that is clear, readily available and relevant.

• The media/journalism panelists also discussed how Twitter is providing their news followers another way to stay connected, and how reporters are using the service to get feedback from audiences on ways to pursue stories. As communicators and media contacts for many of our clients at Beehive, we’re excited to hear from journalists as they develop their stories and share their experiences and preferences.

Several folks were twittering from the event. Search #mnprsa or check out @minnesotaprsa or Beehive’s Twitter account (it’s new!) – @beehivepr – to track some of the conversations. You can also check out the MN PR Blog or the Minnesota PRSA Web site for more information/visuals.

And that’s a wrap!

Katharine Mudra
Account Supervisor